Hammer operated registration device for amusement centers



Dec. 22, 1964 N. T. ARGlRO 3,162,440

HAMMER GPERATED REGISTRATION DEVICE FOR AMUSEMENT CENTERS Filed Aug. 50, 1961 IN V EN TOR.

zzmfilw Ta /M BY 1344M United States Patent In amusement centers, a popular device consists of a hammer operated throw for a sliding element, thrown upwardly to a degree in accordance with the force of a hammer stroke by the operator, a marked back-board indicating the extent of movement of the sliding element, the maximum throw causing the sliding element to strike a bell.

The object oi the present invention is to provide a device of said general character which will eliminate the mechanical lever element generally employed, and which will incorporate air pressure to carry the stroke of the hammer to the sliding element.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, showing an embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of away.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation partly broken away, the bottom of the device being clipped to a supporting plate, the bellows member which is struck being shown in full lines after such a stroke and in dotted lines in normal position.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view in horizontal section, taken on the line 3-3, FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the device consists of a hollow body member 1 having an upstanding neck on which is threaded the lower member 2X of a bellows 2, the interior of the bellows communicating with the interior of body member 1. The bellows is preferably of inverted conical shape and is closed by a wall at its top. The top wall of the body member opposite the bellows is formed as a tube 3, open at its top and adapted to receive the sliding element 4. The air path between bellows 2 and tube 3 is formed solely by the hollow interior of body member 1. In the present embodiment, sliding element 4 is cup-shaped, the cup being inverted. Preferably the cup has a threaded stem 5, the threads not being shown, adapted to receive a weight 6 which also will be threaded, and differently weighted elements 6 may be employed as desired, for substitution one by another. The sliding element 4 is carried by opposed arms 7, apertured at their ends so that they may be received by upstanding rods 8. These rods may be passed through an annular member 9, flangelike in character, at the top of the body member 1, thence through arms carried by the body member.

The rods 8 may have a cross rod 11, the latter holding a bell 12. As indicated more particularly in FIG. 1, the two rods 8 may be rearwardly bent at their top ends to provide hooks for suspending a back plate 14, which may be provided with spaced ruled lines 15, FIG. 2, marked with indicia to indicate the degree of force applied to the sliding element 7 by a hammer stroke upon the device partly broken the bellows 2. The lower end of plate 14 may be apertured to engage a projecting hook 15, carried by body member 1.

For mounting the body member on a suitable stand or base plate, clips such as shown at 16 may be applied to grooved lugs 17 projecting from the body member, the clips being secured to the base member 18, and the latter being of any suitable form. It will be understood that when the blow of a hammer is imposed upon the top of the bellows 2, the latter will be actuated, as from the dotted line position, FIG. 2, to the full line position, and air will be forced through the hollow body member 1, causing a rise of the sliding element 4, in accordance with the force of the impact upon the bellows member. The displacement of element 4 permits air to enter the body member through tube 3 and restore the bellows member, when released, to its original position.

It will also be understood that the device may be made in any desired size, as for adults or children, and in the latter case it can be made small and used in the general character of a toy.

A feature of the invention is that the body element and bellows may be of molded plastic, such as polyethylene, and be composed of merely two elements, since the neck of the body member on which the bellows is threaded, may be molded integrally with the body member.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

A pressure-impelled device, consisting of a relatively rigid box member which is airtight and hollow, the box having an inlet at one end and an outlet at its opposite end, and having an air path between said inlet and outlet formed solely by the hollow interior of the box, the inlet being surmounted by an upstanding outwardly threaded neck, and the outlet being bounded by an upward extending tubular projection, a corrugated bellows member threaded on said neck and in the form of an inverted frusto-cone, a piston slidingly mounted within said tubular projection, the piston having an upwardly projecting striking element for a bell, a carrier for the piston and which is provided with spaced apertures, spaced vertical rods within said apertures, means connecting and rigidly spacing said rods, and a bell device carried at the upper end of the rods in register with the striking element of the piston, the construction being such that displacement of the piston upon contraction of the bellows member permits air to enter the box through the tubular projection and thus restore the bellows member to its normal expanded condition.

References (Zited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 226,438 Arnett Apr. 13, 1880 482,623 Dooling Sept. 13, 1892 1,260,013 Neats Mar. 19, 1918 1,277,799 Weber Sept. 3, 1918 FOREIGN PATENTS 125,643 Austria Nov. 25, 1931 

